Accessing financial reports and corporate events with GetDFPData

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses the contributions and usage of GetDFPData, which is an open and free software for accessing corporate data from the Brazilian financial exchange, B3. The distribution and popularization of an open-source algorithm for gathering and managing financial data can improve finance research and practice in two ways. First, it increases the number and quality of research in accounting and corporate finance. Secondly, it provides retail investors with reliable data that may help their allocation decisions. Initially, we analyze the use of this kind of data in a list of recent publications to show the relevance of financial reports and corporate events data for research in the fields of accounting and finance. Finally, we illustrate the use of GetDFPData in large-scale research, an empirical and reproducible example of a corporate finance study.